Street album
By Claire J. Baker on May we all keep a photographof the momentsomeone’s eyesmeet our ownand linger—that silvery silence when both acceptour differences and let
Claire J. Baker
Let it be
By Claire J. Baker on In the changing skiesof circumstancelet us beas flocks of birdsguiding each otherby touching wings.
Worth a Thousand Words
By Claire J. Baker on A riveting black & white photo: a homeless man & his dog asleep under freeway overpass. The dog’s head rests on the man’s hand, a guardian in
Poets on Poverty and Persecution
“I walked by Jesus last night./ He was wearing/ a grimy T-shirt/ grease-stained chinos/ and a worn-out/ pair of sneakers/ with a broken lace/ He stood alone/ On Fourth Street/ where it crosses Mission/ And looked at me/ with longing eyes./ His dirty arms/ extended toward me/ in a silent plea.”
What if They Gave a War and Nobody Paid?
The government needs us to pay our taxes to cover the cost of soldiers, bombs, guns, planes and aircraft carriers. At what point do we the people refuse to cooperate with these immoral, illegal and senseless wars? The government cannot fight these wars without our tax dollars and moral support.
Blues for the Homeless
I am amazed at some homeless elders’ carts,/ blankets and clothes in neat folds,/ layers of grace in intricate space,/ Crimes of legalized hate,/ may take the carts of the homeless away/ but cannot separate them from God/ whose home is in their heart/ with or without a shopping cart.
Strong and Unbound Wings
We think of you/ long on the streets/ a titanium brace in your bad leg,/ sighing at pain, yet uncomplaining/ like a statue of marble or bronze./ One day, Mike, may you glide/ from your sidewalk perch/ as if you were always a bird,/ and now at last your wings/ are strong, unbound.
The Shelter of Love
What about street dogs,/ the soft undersides of paws/ laid at night/ upon face or arm/ warding off cold & harm./ Dogs with hungry sorrowful/ eyes will gaze into our own./ If we have zero food/ to offer, not even a bone,/ a dog still claims us,/ downtrodden as we are,/ as his home.
The Flower Girl
Dostoyevsky’s Prince Myshkin believed/ “Beauty will save the world.”/ By taking beauty to the shelter,/your flowers saved one part of it./ You smile in the spirit of Don Quixote:/ Free flowers for the poor/ could subvert the whole economy,/ beauty could ruin the banking system,/ kindness could wreck capitalism.
January Poetry of the Streets
70 and Determined
by George Wynn
It’s strange
to be an old man and
begging for spare change
and the
October Poetry of the Streets
The common people should be free/ to lie on public commons grass/ in a democracy/ whether the sun is up,/ whether the sun is down,/ whether it’s day or night/ they should not be put to flight/ the common people should be free/ to lie on public commons grass/ in a democracy.
Prayers and Poems from a Shelter
“today at social security i did see/ a man shaking so badly he couldn't stand/ telling everyone he just got out of jail/ and needed a hand/ he had no teeth/ and looking in his eyes/ i could see he was in a place/ few on earth see”